Friday, February 28, 2014

Vday & Anniversary Getaway // Saint Louis // February 2014

Before you read: KS folks have you entered the fabulous B. Michelle Bake Shop Giveaway yet??!?! It's almost over, so get your entries in! 

This post is super long... but jam packed with AMAZING pictures, Saint Louis recommendations and a little art history for those interested. Scroll through and find what you're interested in!

We booked our favorite B&B and planned a fun day of activities to quench our travel thirst as well as relax a bit and spend some time without responsibilities to celebrate not just Valentine's Day... but our Anniversary too! Kudos to you if you noticed a lack of posting  back around New Year's...

We got married on New Year's Eve 2011 and didn't really have a good time to celebrate this year, so we made it a package trip and it was very fun! 

We got to relax and spend lots of one on one time together as well as see some of the sites and eat some yummy food :)

We got to Saint Louis fairly late Friday night & checked into our B&B, Elves Manor. You can see our details of our other trip there, here. I can't believe it's been 3 years! As usual Karen, the Inn Keeper spoiled us with lovely snacks, breakfast and drinks! We felt so special to have a mini sparkling beverage in the fridge! Thank you Karen! :) Here's an old picture of the exterior. We didn't remember to take one this time! So cute right?



The next morning we got up and I made KC a special French Toast breakfast! The story behind the french toast is simply that I don't usually care for it, but this recipe is the best thing I've ever eaten... So I try to make it one or two times a year for special occasions. Kyle went out to get Starbucks (addicted) while I baked the french toast. This time I added Nutella to the middle... because he loves it... and it seemed like it would go well with the raspberry that I usually do. He was a fan. We enjoyed our breakfast together before heading out the The Fox Theatre for a tour!


We also visited the Fox Theatre on our last visit to Elves Manor again you can view that post, here. The Fox is this amazing theatre built in the 1920's. It was the brainchild of William Fox (like 20th century Fox...) and it remains one of the largest theatres with it's original organ in it's original working order. It's so amazing. 

Anyhow, it was the place where we saw Celtic Woman for the first time and it was the perfect location for it! The theatre was so beautiful that we had to go back for a tour! 

So we paid our $7 apiece and joined a group for a tour of the interior; including the theatre, stage, back stage and downstairs as well as the fancy schmancy 'Fox Club'. 

The gorgeous exterior. 



We walked all through the basement and backstage up onto the stage. The whole way the walls are covered in murals and signatures of broadway actors, musicians, and other famous acts that have preformed at the Fox. It is one of the only if not the only place where this happens! It was so fun to see. The earliest ones are from the early '90's when the Fox opened again and there is an incredible range of art and style. It was so fun to search the walls for names and shows we were familiar with!




One of the most detailed and craziest... One of the three dream girls. 


Then we found Celtic Woman. Though they don't have a mural I was able to read things that six of the past and present ladies wrote! It was very cool.


The outside is impressive and the signatures are so fun to see... But my favorite piece was touring the interior, learning the stories of the building and marveling at the sheer awesomeness of the design & ornateness inside.




This chandelier is 12 ft in diameter! Mind boggling!


After the tour of the Fox we went over to the Saint Louis Art Museum, a brand new location for us! :) Outside after a long slippery side walk trekk we made it to this breathtaking statue of Saint Louis himself. It is so massive and impressive! I swear I have two pictures from every angle! 


It's just amazingly gorgeous.. and the park down the hill is so spacious! I would love to go back in the spring or summer and see all of the green trees and flowers!


Such a gorgeous museum... inside & out. Though I don't understand their fascination with Max Beckmann... it's not my thing. And there is a lot of it! But if you're a fan this is the place to go! You'll soon find out that I was originally an Art History major. :)


Another Monet water lily! (KC has one too!) The violet ones are always my favorite though, so it was so breathtaking to see this one in person!


I had never heard of Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida before this trip, but I am mesmerized by his use of movement in this piece 'Under the Awning, Zarauz'. It makes me want to visit the European coasts... who wouldn't right? This painting reminds me of Downton Abbey (on a beach). I purchased a greeting card print in the gift shop before we left! 


I got to see my first Degas sculpture at this museum! This piece is a phenomenal sculpture called 'Little Dancer of Fourteen Years'.  I absolutely love it, the mixed media makes it look so life-like. I didn't even know that he did sculpture! There was a figurine in the gift shop that I considered buying but it was chipped. I really wanted a glitter globe with a replica in it, but it was $50. Sadly, a little too much for this particular occasion. 


I am such a big fan of classical sculpture. Even the pieces that are missing limbs and features. There is something so beautiful about the life like shapes and the draping and movement of their garments. It's such a wonderful opportunity to see things that are so old, yet so intact (considering). I loved all of these sculptures but this was one of my favorite because of the movement of Artemis's garment.


Then we visited the new east building, which is filled with modern & contemporary pieces, again much like the addition to the Nelson in KC. I loved some of it, but all-in-all these pieces are never my favorite. I do enjoy the size of the pieces and more abstract ones however, like this set pictured above.


I thought this statue was neat, and couldn't pass up the chance to take this picture. KC is such a good sport!


My first Lichtenstein! Again, who knew he did anything but paint! I really really love this sculpture! The black and white is so eye-catching!


We decided to grab lunch at the cafe (not the swanky looking restaurant) but it ended up being really wonderful, and quite special! I got this amazing spinach salad with grilled southwestern chicken on it. It also had tomatoes, black beans, red onions, cilantro sour cream and a sort of southwest honey mustard dressing with kick to it! So delicious! Kyle got the special which was lamb with a tzatziki sauce, marinated Mediterranean veggies and cucumber tomato salad... which I ate quite a bit of :) and a roll. We shared a Fitz's black cherry soda, which is a Saint Louis specialty. It was pretty good, but I let Kyle drink most of it, because it's not really my favorite type of soda. :) It was an awesome and affordable lunch!

We got dinner that night with KC's friend who moved out there recently, his girlfriend and roommate. We went to a place he suggested called Russel's on Macklind. It is a really homey farm-to-table cafe with AMAZING desserts! The lighting was so lovely and low that none of my pictures turned out very well. But if you are going to Saint Louis eat there! It's so so fantastic! For dinner I had roasted chicken in garlic mashed potatoes with roasted brussell sprouts, which was perfect. For dessert (to-go) I got this unbelievable (& huge!) slice of dark chocolate cake, it had homemade whipped cream in between the three layers and a fresh strawberry frosting topped with a chocolate layer. UM yeah it was .... incredible! 



Once again, we were having such a great time we forgot to take pictures of ourselves... so here you have a 'we're leaving Saint Louis and grabbing coffee on the road' picture. Nice huh? We got these amazing croissants at Kayak Coffee along with a smoothie and juice.. so really we didn't get coffee that time. My croissant was stuffed with cheeses, spinach and roasted tomatoes. Kyle's was chocolate of course. So tasty! 

If you made it to the bottom, congratulations! :) 

We had such a nice time. I love how a weekend trip can really refresh you and quench some of that travel thirst! 

Have you ever been to Saint Louis?

What were your favorites?

What is your favorite art museum??

Recommendations always always welcome! 

Thank You for Reading & Happy Travels! 

Alexandra

Stay tuned for details on our next trip! I'm psyched!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

B. Michelle Bake Shop Giveaway! // Talented Friends

Remember my scrumptious post about my lovely friend Brittany's new bakery?!?! You know... all natural (even the food dyes, she makes by hand!), beautiful and delicious.. ?




 
Well the time has come for the B. Michelle Bake Shop giveaway! YAY!! 

One extremely lucky Kansas City (Topeka / Lawrence) area winner will receive their choice of:

One 6-inch cake of any flavor (except Neapolitan) 

OR

One dozen cupcakes of any flavor (except Neapolitan)

Either prize would be perfect for a small party or get-together! 

And of course you can always add on to your free order, should you want more cupcakes for a bigger event by paying for the remainder of the treats. :) 

Fine Print:

Winner must live in the KC/Topeka/Lawrence area.

Order must be placed by April 30th, and delivered before June 1st.

Cake/Cupcakes must be delivered by B. Michelle Bake Shop.

The giveaway begins at midnight and runs through the end of the day March 1st!

Make sure you complete the steps by clicking the buttons in the Rafflecopter Widget below! But the buttons are basically check marks to say you completed something, so you have to go to Pinterest etc. and follow me also. It's a two step process. I go through and double check that you actually left a comment ON THE POST, followed me on Twitter etc. :) if not I have to throw out those entries!:( If you have questions please feel free to email me at simplyalexandrablog.outlook.com! :)

There you have it guys!!

This is such an exciting giveaway... I hope that you get a chance to try Brittany's delicious cakes free of charge.... but if not you can always place an order here.

Good Luck & May Rafflecopter Be Ever in Your Favor! :) 

Alexandra

You must comment on this post from your PC, when you do it on a phone it will not go through.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Back From Saint Louis!

You may have noticed I have been incommunicado for a bit... but that would be because I was prepping for a lovely valentine's day / anniversary getaway in Saint Louis! & then in Saint Louis. & then subbing a lot.. but I'm back! & Getting some swoon worthy and photo packed Saint Louis posts ready to share with you all! 

I hope that you had a fantastic holiday & weekend! 

XO,

Alexandra 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Happy Birthday Mom! // 2014

Today is my mom's birthday!

I think she's 25 this year... ? ;)



She taught me how to sew, how to cook and how to be selfless in love.

I was going back through my wedding pictures and I found these... and I thought they captured a pretty sweet moment. :)

I love you mom!

All for now,

Alexandra

Monday, February 10, 2014

Dress Happy! // Remixing Challenge

First: Have you entered my very first giveaway??! It's up for a few more hours so enter, here. :)

My cardigan splurge is still working out well. I really really don't like spending so much on a single item, but in this case I am still wearing it a lot and feeling like it is continuing to make new outfits. :) And of course it goes with my pink pants... 

Embroidered Cardigan: Nick & Mo, Local Boutique $85
Pink Jeans: JCP, $15 Christmas Money + A Sale
Navy Flats: Payless, $15 (with BOGO!) (buy here)
Vintage Cocktail Ring: Salvation Army, $3! - I think this one is my favorite!

Outfit Total: $118

 See the ring?!?!

I was reading an idea that you should 'dress happy' which seems kind of silly, but when you're excited about your sweater the world can seem brighter, so why not?

Check out my previous Remix outfits & non-remix outfits here.

I'm also super pumped about our DIY Gallery Wall behind me... :) Post coming soon! 

XOXO,

Alexandra 

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Two Day Giveaway! // Valentine's Day 2014

This Valentine's Day, I've decided to do my very first giveaway! Whoop Whoop!

I'm calling it the Pink & Pure; because it contains things that are both pink and pure... clever huh? 

Anyhow one lovely winner will receive a 100 Percent Pure nail polish in 'Velouria' & a Coral-y Pink pair of Cabochon earrings made by me. :) * Total Value: $17


Another lovely winner will receive a 100 Percent Pure nail polish in 'Velveteen' & a pair of Red Cabochon earrings made by me. :) * Total Value: $17


*both shades of nail polish are considered nudes, lighter pink shades, perfect for a fun top coat, or a low key look. Both are also free of all those nasty nail polish ingredients. Both pairs of earrings are made with hypo-allergenic nickel free posts!*

You must live in the US to qualify for this giveaway, sorry. :) 

Get your entries in! Giveaway ends when Monday night becomes Tuesday morning (Central time!)!

Thank You for Reading & May Rafflecopter be Ever in Your Favor! :) 


Alexandra


New to Rafflecopter?? Make sure you leave a comment in the BLOGGER comments NOT just in the Rafflecopter widget! :)


Friday, February 7, 2014

The Tee That Won't Quit! // Remixing Challenge


This week we had 3 snow days! 3! THREE! Then I had a day off Friday that I was already expecting! I spent a ton of time cleaning, cooking and hand washing lots of fun new Goodwill and Salvation Army finds! Which means I can start styling them and sharing them in posts! Whoop! So here you have it... another outfit from the winter remix!

I have got some crazy crazy wild hair in these pictures... but sometimes you just have to rock it. ;) 

Grey Blazer: Thrifted, $20 or less - Old
Ivory Tee: Lucky Brand via TJMaxx, $20 or less -Old
Mint Ombre Necklace: Thrifted, $7 - Old
Vintage Cocktail Ring: Salvation Army, $3
Pink Jeans: JCP, $15 - Christmas Money
Navy Flats: Payless, $15 - BOGO price

Outfit Total: $80


I am so in love with this necklace. It's noticeable... but a soft color which I love. Plus it goes with so many things. And I always love to find a vintage piece that is wearable right off the bat! Plus $7?? Steal! 


This will also be a nice outfit in spring :) 


I cannot get enough of this lacy tee! It is so so so versatile! And comfy. But it looks so much nicer than a lot of my other tees. :) 

To see outfits one, two, three & four, click on the links!

Do you have all-season basics that work with everything? 

Have you ever found vintage jewelry that was a major steal?

Thank You for Reading!

Alexandra